Major power disruptions struck Moldova on January 31 after severe problems in Ukraine’s electricity network triggered a cascading failure, amid harsh winter weather and ongoing damage from Russia’s full-scale invasion.
The blackout affected multiple regions, including large parts of the capital, Chisinau, halting trolleybuses, traffic lights, and some border operations.
Moldova’s Energy Ministry said that at 10:42 a.m. local time, a voltage failure occurred on the 400 kV Isaccea–Vulcanesti–MGRES high-voltage line, which carries electricity imports from Romania through Ukraine and the Russian-held Transnistria region.
The incident forced an emergency disconnection of Moldova’s entire power system as Moldova and Ukraine operate within a shared electricity generation bloc.
“Ukraine’s electro-energetic protection system triggered due to unfavorable weather conditions, and we were immediately affected,” Moldovan Energy Minister Dorin Junghietu said in a video statement. He urged calm, saying power supplies would be restored within hours, with operator Moldelectrica working to stabilize the grid.
In Chisinau, Mayor Ion Ceban said the “largest part” of the city lost electricity, prompting the deployment of generators where needed. Trolleybuses stalled across several districts, while residents flooded social media with complaints.
Police warned that nonfunctional traffic lights were increasing the risk of accidents, deploying officers to major intersections and urging drivers to slow down and follow road signs.
Border crossings also faced delays as outages hit customs facilities. While generators were activated, Ukraine’s Border Police said manual processing was required due to technical failures at the main customs headquarters. Moldovan Health Minister Emil Ceban said all affected medical facilities switched to backup generators.
Ukrainian officials said the disruptions were caused by emergency shutdowns linked to extreme weather, dismissing speculation about a cyberattack. Earlier in the day, Kyiv authorities reported that the city’s metro system had stopped operating under an energy emergency regime following recent massive Russian strikes.
